Ada huddled with the others for warmth in the cave, watching the snow blow sideways outside
The storm outside roared; there were strange sounds in the distance
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
'That sounds like more than just the snow.'
The gas-mask with the needle was tucked safely between Lenny and Jochek
Dana Ixari
"Isn't it morning yet?"
Lenny of the Relux
"It is, it'll be light soon."
They should have seen the sun hours ago...
Instead they saw a blinding torrent of wind and snow and...
The Relux
'Something is wrong...'
Ada caught a flicker out in the storm, accompanied by a sharp buzzing sound
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
'What was that?'
Light was slowly breaking the through the snow, casting a blue glow to the trees, now just barely visible.
Ada caught a better look at an object flying by
Jochek in Rossin
'Oh shit...'
It was a chainsaw
A chainsaw flew into a tree.
It split the tree in two, both parts melted into chainsaws.
The upper part of the tree morphed into a chainsaw and flew away freely.
The lower half remained wedged in the ground: the chain spinning in the open air.
Ada pushed the others back deeper into the cave
It was only about twenty feet back
Dana Ixari
"That tree..."
Dana was watching the opening of the cave in shock
The Relux
'Okay, leaving the cave right now is not an option.'
The cave was shallow, only a few meters wide, It had one entrance
Lana Alacira of the Relux
'Any ideas on how to get out?'
They reached the end of the cave
Lenny of the Relux
'Wait it out?'
Jochek shook their head
Jochek of the Relux
'That storm will only spread, if we run, no one deals with it, it keeps going...'
The Relux
'Any ideas on how to deal with that storm?'
Their focus drew to the needle, to that tiny hole of nothing in its eye...
Much too small
Dana looked between the silent three
Lana Alacira of the Relux
'We need to figure out how to make The Way Out larger, in any case.
Its not like we can fit anything though that.'
Lenny looked at Dana
Lenny coughed
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
'Thinking is faster than talking.'
The Relux
'Then add her.'
Lenny of the Relux
"We're thinking about the way out dear.
Maybe you just stick it in something, and it gets sucked out?"
Ada picked up a rock and tossed it on the needle.
The rock violently ripped apart into prismatic colors, turning inside out while shrinking into nothing
She had seen something like that before...
Lana Alacira of the Relux
'Inside out, and shrinking...
so at least 5D, so are we just seeing a corner?'
Lana Alacira of the Relux
"It looks a little HD, maybe we just need to rotate it, that needle is some kind of anchor."
Another chainsaw flew past the lip of the cave
It didn't hit anything as far as Ada could hear
Jochek of the Relux
"Higher dimensional."
Lenny kneeled down at the needle
Lenny of the Relux
"How do you rotate it?"
Lenny shrugged
Lenny of the Relux
"We don't have a lot of options here."
The Relux
'We can escape through the link, if we need to.'
Jochek of the Relux
'And leave The Way Out here: less than ideal.'
A chainsaw flew and wedged itself into the lip of the cave
The cave wall started to change.
From where the chainsaw had bit in, rows of chains began to form
The chainsaw sank into the visible chains
The infection spread along the wall
Everyone pressed up against the back wall
The rows of chains seemed to melt away, growing the cave,
What was actually happening: the chains spread the infection deeper into the cave wall, making a path back into the storm blocked by no wall.
These chainsaw wanted to fly, it was in their nature
The infection spread to the roof, then the other side of the cave.
Chainsaws, starting at the lip and moving towards them - flying into the storm - blocking their path out
Both Lenny and Jochek were hard at work though
Lenny threw another rock at The Way Out, while Jochek jiggled the gas-mask holding the pin.
The rock turned inside out and shrank to nothing and the hole grew
It was now bigger than the eye, encompassing it
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
'Okay: which way are you falling...'
Ada was keeping track of their progress with the Way out and the growing infection.
The Chainsaws seemed to be following the storm, which was mostly blowing sideways
Jochek moved the gas-mask in several directions and in one: the Way Out expanded
The Relux
'Hide behind it, the chainsaws are all flying one direction'
The direction The Way Out was growing was towards the lip of the cave
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
"Quickly now!"
Jochek threw the gas-mask toward the entrance of the cave.
The Way Out grew to an orb, floating forward, growing larger as it did so.
Chainsaws that touched The Way Out fell inside out into nothing
The Way Out had grown to a size they could all fit behind comfortably
The Way Out floated forward, slowing, then stopped next to the cave wall
It had expanded to half the width of the tunnel
The infection spread through the cave, around The Way Out
Chainsaws formed along the wall of the cave between them and The Way Out
They ran for cover
Dana was last, and slowest
Dana jumped the last bit of distance
Chainsaws had started flying from the other side of the cave.
Dana dodged all of them, but one
A Chainsaw hit Dana's foot, cutting it in half
The small bit of foot that was cut off immediately started changing into a chainsaw
Dana screamed, and her landing was more of a crash
Dana Ixari
"Oh, that hurts..."
Dana rolled on the ground, next to the Relux, convulsing.
She gritted her teeth
Dana Ixari
"I don't want to be a chainsaw."
the argument
Ada thought back to those days...
Ada Lovelace of the Relux
'Okay.'
That was what Lenny and Jochek wanted to hear
Dana's leg started turning to metal
Lenny of the Relux
"Lets go already."
Dana stopped moving
Jochek of the Relux
"Dana, hon, you're going to feel a bit of a pinch..."
Around them, chainsaws flew
Yet The Way Out sheltered them from the onslaught
Lenny of the Relux
'I hope we are not too late...'
The Relux pulled Dana out of her body, and into theirs
Split evenly, mostly (The younger brains had a bit more).
The Relux braced for the change
Redlux
'Four in three, sustainable.'
Their memories merged, Ada's worry for Dana's past, Lenny's fondness, Jochek's desire, Dana's fear, blended together into something new
Dana Ixari of the Redlux
'Hello?
Am I dead?'
Dana saw though them, not having a body of her own, but seeing though each of their eyes.
She watched her old body morph into a chainsaw and fly away.
It was disorienting, but three parts of us were used to it, and they could comfort the fourth
The three bodies huddled the four of them together for warmth
Aside The Way Out, chainsaws flew around them, but remained out of reach.
Ada had concerns about the continued bombardment of the way out on it's orientation.
She knew it was a higher dimensional shape, but other than that...
Ada sighed
She knew the next step, so did we all
Redlux
'We need a sample chainsaw to work with...'
If they were going to fix this, the first step was to know thy enemy
%%%%
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"...And we came back here."
Juan took another sip of tea
Martha watched him.
This was the person - one of the persons - that released Al-tok...
Three of them, together...
Alice in Robert in Juan
"How does that work? Three people in one mind?"
Rossin was perched on the sofa arm
He looked back to her
Rossin
'Memory loss, they have to make space somehow...
Same as you.'
When Martha didn't reply, he continued
Rossin
'How do you think I fit in here...
I only got rid of the boring stuff...
Far as I can tell, anyway.'
Lana Alacira
"So where is our dreamer, Dubai?"
Juan nodded.
Alacira held her hand to her head
Lana Alacira
"Wilbert, Sonny: take care of that."
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"They're fine, in a hospital."
There was a scratching at the back of Martha's mind
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"So you made this new Serum then?"
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"Not yet, Dubai was..."
Robert trailed off, and Martha saw his vision track to the kitchen
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"Is that the chemist?"
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"Yes, we had some trouble with him."
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"Why is he here out of his lab.
He's like a fish out of water..."
There was a silence
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"No offense."
The scratching was audible, always coming from directly behind Martha
Wilbert sighed
A very poignant, punctuated sigh
Alacira nodded
Lana Alacira
"Flanagan, do you have anything for Wilbert."
Al-tok
'You have a toy of mine, in you, time to wind it up a bit...'
Martha froze - then looked around.
Flanagan, on the sofa across from Martha waved them to the main entrance
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"Up the stairs, first door on the right: costumes."
Martha Crisp
"We have a problem."
Rossin perked up at this
Rossin
'What is this now?'
Sonny, her spiders along the ceiling, and Wilbert left the foyer
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"Once we have the serum made we just need to find our original body."
Flanagan either didn't hear or chose to ignore her, Kent sitting next to her though was paying attention
Kent Barbado
"What is it?"
Both Rossin and Kent leaned in, the rest were watching Flanagan
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"Well..."
Flanagan coughed
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"That may be a problem.
It was recently shot with a cruise missile."
Martha was nearly whispering, desperate
Martha Crisp
"It's talking to me."
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"Really all we need is Al-tok in a body."
Again, the silence was deafening
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"It has a body... right?"
Flanagan gesticulated noncommittally
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"If it has a body...
It could be anyone it chooses."
Robert Glass in Juan Long
"It can't survive in a host without Alice's serum...
Not for long anyway."
Martha slammed her arm into the coffee table
That wasn't her, she didn't do that
Martha Crisp
"That feels good."
Again, it wasn't her, she tried to stop her self but she was unable.
Thoughts that weren't hers entered her mind, a boiling tar of rage
Martha stood up
Flanagan looked at her finally, remembering she was in the room
Flanagan in Felix Danabrus
"Martha?"
She charged him, aiming her strikes against his neck.
Martha fell halfway into her first throw, lost momentum and fell still
Kent Barbado
"She said it was talking to her."
She still couldn't move, not even her lungs as her chest began to burn
Rossin was fighting it
Somewhere in her mind, Rossin had gone to try keep it at bay
He was losing
Martha Crisp
'He did say it would kill him...'
She couldn't turn her head to see everyone surrounding her.
Martha's vision faded around the edges, first to red, then to black